Neither America nor China can ignore India today: Sitharaman

India’s priority is not to impose its dominance but to enhance its influence, Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has said, asserting that no country, whether the US or China, can ignore New Delhi today.

Sitharaman made the remarks on Wednesday during a panel discussion on “Bretton Woods at 80: Priorities for the Next Decade” organised by the Centre for Global Development here.

The minister arrived here on Tuesday to attend the annual meetings of the Bretton Woods Institutions — the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. “India’s priority is not to impose its dominance, in the sense we are the biggest democracy we have in the world, the largest population, but to enhance its influence,” she said.

Asserting that one in every six people in the world is an Indian, she said, “You just cannot ignore our economy and the way in which it is growing.”

She talked about India’s leading role in technology “You really can’t ignore it. Also, the geopolitical neighbourhood in which we live. No country, the US, which is very far away from us, or China, which is very close to us, can ignore us,” she said.